Hi All,
I need a good Plan of Action PowerPoint presentation in order to improve the quality of an inbound call center. My higher-ups are expecting me to deliver it, and my growth is based on this presentation. Can anyone please help me with this?
My basic job is to monitor the calls, and I have conducted error analysis, but I need a good Plan of Action. Please help me with this?
From India, Bangalore
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I need a good Plan of Action PowerPoint presentation in order to improve the quality of an inbound call center. My higher-ups are expecting me to deliver it, and my growth is based on this presentation. Can anyone please help me with this?
My basic job is to monitor the calls, and I have conducted error analysis, but I need a good Plan of Action. Please help me with this?
From India, Bangalore
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Prashanth,
In my opinion, a Plan of Action is very specific to the business or technology problem being addressed, and depends on the data collected in support of the problem. Would you mind sharing the data you collected (your analysis and what you have so far)? This could help the folks here to provide a high level P of A for your specific problem.
That said, a generic P of A would be something like this. Please note that this is a very high level sketch of what a P of A should contain (in particular to a call center).
1. Overview of the problem (what is it that you are dealing with) - no more than 5 single-sentence bullet points in one slide) – this is an executive level overview of the entire slide deck
2. Specific problems you are dealing with (see below) – list all the problems you are trying to address (problems ONLY, no solutions or plans of action)
3. Supporting data for each problem (matrix) – How did you arrive at identifying there was a problem? Show the audience your data. E.g.,
3.1. Number of Inbound calls in various shifts (I am assuming that it is a 24-hour call center with three shifts of eight hours each), Number of personnel attending the calls in a given shift (staffing spread),
3.2. Time taken per each call to resolve the issues (from call intake to closing the call after achieving customer satisfaction),
3.3. Spread of the inbound calls (peak number and lowest number in any given day), What are the peak and low times in a year (which months/season do you receive most calls, and which months/season do you receive least calls)
3.4. Number of calls attended by each call center employee in a given shift,.
These are some of the matrix that you can collect for a call center to give you a decent idea of what (if any) problem you are trying to address.
4. Plan of Action: (some sample problems given the above data) (one slide per problem, no more than 5 to 7 bullet points per slide, or one table with at most 4 columns and 6 rows)
4.1. Problem 1 - Insufficient staffing - Number of personnel is not sufficient to handle call volume (Plan to increase staffing in the problem shift)
4.2. Problem 2 - High call resolution time (several sub-problems) - Each call takes longer than the SLA from intake to close - Possible sub-problems - improper training for the call center personnel, improper call routing, lack of information from the customer or customer's inability to clearly articulate what the problem is, call center employees often repeating themselves to the customer or asking the customers to repeat themselves (communication/language issues), and so on. (Plans of Action in the sub-problems listed above: Technical training, call routing process tweaking, customer information gathering process tweaking, customer education at the onset of the call or framing different set of questions to gather information or running through specific list of questions, language training to the call center personnel).
4.3. Problem 3 - Is there required staffing to accommodate peak call volumes in a day/peak season/months? If not, increase staffing
4.4. Problem 4 – Are the employees handling too many calls? Indication of less than required staffing; increase staffing
5. RACI for the Plans of Action – One slide with a table containing
5.1. Problem Number
5.2. Responsible for dealing with the problem (implementing the Action Plan)
5.3. Accountable – Overall ownership to ensure the problem is resolved
5.4. Contribute – Who would contribute to implementing the Action Plan effectively
5.5. Inform – Who would be informed about the progress, needs, escalations, and success (once the plan is successfully implemented)
6. Closing – Seek commitments from the executive leadership (audience of the slide deck)
Hope the above information and sketch helps. If you could share the data you have already gathered and also provide specifics about the problems you are trying to address (items 1, 2 and 3 above), the P of A (item 4 above) would be much easier to articulate.
Regards,
-Som G
From United States, Woodinville
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12In my opinion, a Plan of Action is very specific to the business or technology problem being addressed, and depends on the data collected in support of the problem. Would you mind sharing the data you collected (your analysis and what you have so far)? This could help the folks here to provide a high level P of A for your specific problem.
That said, a generic P of A would be something like this. Please note that this is a very high level sketch of what a P of A should contain (in particular to a call center).
1. Overview of the problem (what is it that you are dealing with) - no more than 5 single-sentence bullet points in one slide) – this is an executive level overview of the entire slide deck
2. Specific problems you are dealing with (see below) – list all the problems you are trying to address (problems ONLY, no solutions or plans of action)
3. Supporting data for each problem (matrix) – How did you arrive at identifying there was a problem? Show the audience your data. E.g.,
3.1. Number of Inbound calls in various shifts (I am assuming that it is a 24-hour call center with three shifts of eight hours each), Number of personnel attending the calls in a given shift (staffing spread),
3.2. Time taken per each call to resolve the issues (from call intake to closing the call after achieving customer satisfaction),
3.3. Spread of the inbound calls (peak number and lowest number in any given day), What are the peak and low times in a year (which months/season do you receive most calls, and which months/season do you receive least calls)
3.4. Number of calls attended by each call center employee in a given shift,.
These are some of the matrix that you can collect for a call center to give you a decent idea of what (if any) problem you are trying to address.
4. Plan of Action: (some sample problems given the above data) (one slide per problem, no more than 5 to 7 bullet points per slide, or one table with at most 4 columns and 6 rows)
4.1. Problem 1 - Insufficient staffing - Number of personnel is not sufficient to handle call volume (Plan to increase staffing in the problem shift)
4.2. Problem 2 - High call resolution time (several sub-problems) - Each call takes longer than the SLA from intake to close - Possible sub-problems - improper training for the call center personnel, improper call routing, lack of information from the customer or customer's inability to clearly articulate what the problem is, call center employees often repeating themselves to the customer or asking the customers to repeat themselves (communication/language issues), and so on. (Plans of Action in the sub-problems listed above: Technical training, call routing process tweaking, customer information gathering process tweaking, customer education at the onset of the call or framing different set of questions to gather information or running through specific list of questions, language training to the call center personnel).
4.3. Problem 3 - Is there required staffing to accommodate peak call volumes in a day/peak season/months? If not, increase staffing
4.4. Problem 4 – Are the employees handling too many calls? Indication of less than required staffing; increase staffing
5. RACI for the Plans of Action – One slide with a table containing
5.1. Problem Number
5.2. Responsible for dealing with the problem (implementing the Action Plan)
5.3. Accountable – Overall ownership to ensure the problem is resolved
5.4. Contribute – Who would contribute to implementing the Action Plan effectively
5.5. Inform – Who would be informed about the progress, needs, escalations, and success (once the plan is successfully implemented)
6. Closing – Seek commitments from the executive leadership (audience of the slide deck)
Hope the above information and sketch helps. If you could share the data you have already gathered and also provide specifics about the problems you are trying to address (items 1, 2 and 3 above), the P of A (item 4 above) would be much easier to articulate.
Regards,
-Som G
From United States, Woodinville
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Hi Som, I am new to citehr and am really happy that the reply is so fast. Thank you very much for the explanation; this will help me a lot. However, let me tell you my analysis so that you can get a better picture.
As per my analysis based on the data for the last 12 months, the major number of errors done by the agents are: 1) Inaccurate Information and 2) Documenting the call. Now, my higher-ups want me to come up with a good plan of action in order to eradicate these errors.
The agents are making very silly mistakes while giving the information. For example, if the system shows $56.06, they just advise the customer $56.00 because of many such silly errors, which is reducing the quality of the floor. My higher-ups want me to come up with some innovative plan of action to eradicate these errors. I would be very thankful if I get help from you.
From India, Bangalore
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As per my analysis based on the data for the last 12 months, the major number of errors done by the agents are: 1) Inaccurate Information and 2) Documenting the call. Now, my higher-ups want me to come up with a good plan of action in order to eradicate these errors.
The agents are making very silly mistakes while giving the information. For example, if the system shows $56.06, they just advise the customer $56.00 because of many such silly errors, which is reducing the quality of the floor. My higher-ups want me to come up with some innovative plan of action to eradicate these errors. I would be very thankful if I get help from you.
From India, Bangalore
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From what you have described, Prashanth, the answer seems to be not any innovative method but a time-tested method - Job Training. It appears to me that the employees require some serious job training and lessons on providing accurate information, down to the last cent. These folks are dealing with real money. And from what I know about US customers, we don't leave even a single cent. When we look for information, we want the most accurate information. If any rounding off is done, it must be to OUR benefit and it must impact our wallets :-). For example, if a call center rep says that I owe the company $56.00 (rounded off from $56.06), then I expect to pay $56.00 and not $56.06. As long as I am paying the amount the call center rep told me, I am a happy customer. However, when the system generates my monthly statement and reflects $56.06 and not $56.00, then I am upset.
Therefore, your problem is a lack of proper training and job aides. So, your Plan of Action must be as follows:
1. Provide detailed training to all the call center employees; Take extra steps to cover and stress presenting accurate information down to the last cent.
2. Review and assess currently available job aides (information, tools, etc.). Survey the call center employees to identify the effectiveness and usability of such aides. Identify gaps in the "as is" and "to be" to improve the effectiveness of the employees; Develop and implement new tools (if needed) and/or enhance existing tools.
Based on the information you have provided, this is what I would recommend to my management if I were in your shoes.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
-Som G
From United States, Woodinville
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Therefore, your problem is a lack of proper training and job aides. So, your Plan of Action must be as follows:
1. Provide detailed training to all the call center employees; Take extra steps to cover and stress presenting accurate information down to the last cent.
2. Review and assess currently available job aides (information, tools, etc.). Survey the call center employees to identify the effectiveness and usability of such aides. Identify gaps in the "as is" and "to be" to improve the effectiveness of the employees; Develop and implement new tools (if needed) and/or enhance existing tools.
Based on the information you have provided, this is what I would recommend to my management if I were in your shoes.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
-Som G
From United States, Woodinville
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You are very welcome. I am glad it helps.
Just one more thing for you to think about when designing the training.
Thinking from the customer's standpoint, when I call a company's customer service number regarding an issue for the first time, I expect my issue to be resolved during my first call. If I have to call the second time regarding the same issue, I expect the customer service to know what I am talking about (instead of me repeating what we spoke during the previous call). The reason for this is, as a customer, I am not talking to a particular call center rep. I am talking to the company which sold me the problem product. Every time I call, I may be routed to a different rep, but the "company" remains the same. I expect the "company" to retain the knowledge of my previous conversation with the "company". The actual representative who is handling my call is just the voice of the "company" I am a customer of.
Therefore, it is critically important for the call center rep to document the conversation in the "Notes" section of the customer's account (along with date/time stamp and the user id of the rep that is handling the call/documenting). These notes will serve as a starting point for the next call rep. Also, this is critical information for the company's protection as well - because you have a record of what was discussed with the customer and what, if any, promises were made/agreed.
Do keep in mind, however, that the reps need not document every word that was spoken during the conversation. They must, however, document the summary, such as answers to the following questions - What was the problem the customer called about? What was the resolution provided to the customer? Did it solve the problem? Any promises/agreements made to/with the customer? Did the customer promise/agree to something? Did the customer express satisfaction with the call/conversation/resolution?
That's about it. This gives some context to the next rep who handles the call from the same customer on the same issue. This also protects the company from such customers who might try to take undue advantage of undocumented calls.
Regards,
-Som G
Thank you very much, Som. This helps me a lot, and thank you for your quick response.
From United States, Woodinville
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Just one more thing for you to think about when designing the training.
Thinking from the customer's standpoint, when I call a company's customer service number regarding an issue for the first time, I expect my issue to be resolved during my first call. If I have to call the second time regarding the same issue, I expect the customer service to know what I am talking about (instead of me repeating what we spoke during the previous call). The reason for this is, as a customer, I am not talking to a particular call center rep. I am talking to the company which sold me the problem product. Every time I call, I may be routed to a different rep, but the "company" remains the same. I expect the "company" to retain the knowledge of my previous conversation with the "company". The actual representative who is handling my call is just the voice of the "company" I am a customer of.
Therefore, it is critically important for the call center rep to document the conversation in the "Notes" section of the customer's account (along with date/time stamp and the user id of the rep that is handling the call/documenting). These notes will serve as a starting point for the next call rep. Also, this is critical information for the company's protection as well - because you have a record of what was discussed with the customer and what, if any, promises were made/agreed.
Do keep in mind, however, that the reps need not document every word that was spoken during the conversation. They must, however, document the summary, such as answers to the following questions - What was the problem the customer called about? What was the resolution provided to the customer? Did it solve the problem? Any promises/agreements made to/with the customer? Did the customer promise/agree to something? Did the customer express satisfaction with the call/conversation/resolution?
That's about it. This gives some context to the next rep who handles the call from the same customer on the same issue. This also protects the company from such customers who might try to take undue advantage of undocumented calls.
Regards,
-Som G
Thank you very much, Som. This helps me a lot, and thank you for your quick response.
From United States, Woodinville
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Hi, I thank every one of you and especially some whose advice helped me to present a good plan of action. My higher-ups were impressed, and now I have been asked to apply for an IJP for Assistant Unit Manager.
I am not sure what kind of questions they ask for managerial interviews and how should I react. What should be my dress code and appearance? What kind of scenarios might they give? I really need your help; please help me with this. Thank you all.
From India, Bangalore
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I am not sure what kind of questions they ask for managerial interviews and how should I react. What should be my dress code and appearance? What kind of scenarios might they give? I really need your help; please help me with this. Thank you all.
From India, Bangalore
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